As we mark Veterans Day, a few facts about it. It was originally called Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I.
That first World War officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June of 1919, but the fighting ended about seven months before that when the Allies and Germany put into effect an armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
At the time, November 11,1918 it was generally considered the date of the end of “the war to end all wars” and dubbed Armistice Day. So in 1926, Congress officially recognized it as the end of the war, and in 1938, it became an official holiday, primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War 1.
But in 1954 following World War II and the Korean War, at the urging of veterans service organizations, Congress amended the commemoration yet again by changing the word “armistice” to “veterans” so the day would honor American veterans of all wars. And that’s why it’s called Veterans Day and why it is on November 11th.
And one more fact about Veterans Day, something it doesn’t have. There is no apostrophe at the end of veterans.
It is a day to honor all veterans. But then we should honor and thank our veterans every day.
(Photo Getty Images)